Swords of the Past, Guns of the Present
by SpinLord
Summary: Kirigaya Kazuto, a.k.a Kirito , dived into [Gun Gale Online] for one reason only; to find out what or who "Death Gun" really is. However, diving into that new world that smelt of gunpowder and rust had its upsides and downsides. For one, he somehow became acquainted to a dual-wielding blonde who hunts for Death Gun as well. And it seems he wasn't letting anyone take his prey.


**[A/N]:** I may have said this before, but I'll say it again just to be clear.

I'm really overusing Naruto as a character.

Seriously, every time I watch a new anime or read a new manga, the first thing that comes to mind is how Naruto would alter the course of actions happening in that fandom. I don't know if this means anything, but am I getting overly attached? Or am I just afraid of coming out of my comfort zone? I've worked with Naruto as a character for a long time now, so I guess it's only natural.

Anyway...

This time, a plot bunny with a black handgun that insta-kills video game players popped up in my head.

As ridiculous as this may sound, let me show you how the world of GGO would change simply by inserting [NARUTO] as a name.

* * *

**Swords of the Past, Guns of the Present**

* * *

**Prologue**

Showdown

Gun Gale Online.

An MMORPG that employs the use of virtual reality to give the players nearly real-life experiences in-game. This was all made possible because the console, AmuSphere (a goggle-shaped device that sends specific waves to the brain) is used to play it.

After the public release of 'The Seed', MMORPGs began to spring up like rabbits. All of a sudden, the number of virtual games rose exponentially compared to the times before, when 'The Seed' had not been discovered.

GGO was one such game.

With an American server, it was a game that had spread throughout the globe – a multi-national game.

Unlike Kayaba Akihiko's [Sword Art Online], this was a safe game with no risks of death. That is actually how normal virtual games supposed to work, of course.

. . .

Only, recently there had been rumors of a certain player.

Actually, no one knew the real name of that player. They only knew what he proclaimed he should be known as, and the name of the black handgun he wielded.

«Death Gun».

A mysterious player with a black handgun that can kill players in real life from inside the game.

His existence was but a rumor, but the existence of the rumor itself struck fear even into the hearts of the most hardened players.

"Or so the rumors say," said a blonde-haired player. "In my opinion, 'Death Gun' shouldn't even sound that scary. How many players do you think have associated their handle names with the word 'death', 'destruction', or 'fear'? If anything, you sound like nothing more than an introverted, manslayer wannabe."

The current stage was an abandoned town.

At the current time, the blonde-haired player was staring down at another player whose whole body was garbed in a rugged mantle-like coat. That coat-wearing player's avatar had a metal mask on his face, stylized to look like a Grim Reaper-esque skull, so no facial features could be seen. But that mask, that coat, the sniper rifle slung on his back, and the black handgun he held on his right hand all referred to a single name.

That person was the infamous [Death Gun].

"...I seriously think you just have one of those 'oversized ego' or something, 'ttebayo."

Once again, the blonde-haired player spouted an offending remark at the feared PKer.

The blonde-haired player had striking features, even for an avatar. Spiky, near-yellow hair adorning his head, three whisker marks on both cheeks, blue eyes that sparkled with glee, and a wide grin on his face – he looked more like a high-school delinquent. He wore a black T-shirt with a spiral symbol on the chest part underneath a red coat. A black scarf which was longer than average was worn around his neck, shielding him from the blowing wind's cold.

He also wore a pair of dark brown combat pants, on which a leather belt and a gun holster was tied onto.

His most notable equipments were the two guns on both of his hands.

On his right was a sawed-off shotgun about 18 inches in length.

On his left, an almost pure white handgun.

[Dual-wielding] these two weapons, that blonde-haired player was known as «Naruto».

"But still, talking about how lame you are isn't what I'm here for. I don't care if you're after Sinon or if Kirito has a personal grudge against you, but your game of tag ends here. We got a score to settle, you masked bastard."

With a growl, Naruto lifted his two guns, pointing their ends at the cloaked, masked player in front of him. In response, the player known as [Death Gun] laughed mirthfully.

"How amusing... To think that you can remain so careless in front of death itself," the masked man raised his black handgun before letting out a mocking chuckle. "You shall die here, and serve as an example for other players."

That black handgun was a symbol of death among the players of GGO. It was a rumored weapon that even professional players had come to be frightened of. Yet, the player called Naruto grinned at the sight.

"Haa? What's that? Can you not use cheesy lines like that in this kind of situation? Geez, if I were you, I'd pull that trigger without showing off so much."

Seemingly unaffected, the yellow-haired player bent his legs as if preparing for a blitz attack. And then, he lurched forward in one swift motion with arms spread to his sides, canceling his aim.

"I'll show you how to do it properly!"

Knowing full well that he could've start shooting from a distance, Naruto dismissed that idea and closed in towards Death Gun. Almost as if he was prepared for that suicidal strategy, Death Gun merely chuckled.

However, rather than shooting that black handgun of his, the cloaked man stepped back and slowly concealed himself with his cloak. Not a moment later, his body started to turn transparent before disappearing completely.

The cloak Death Gun wore wasn't just any ragged, worn-down cloak. It was a cloak which had an invisibility feature, letting the wearer to disappear from clear sight. In a game where guns and bullets were used, this was both a good defense and a frightening offense.

"Tch...so there was something strange with that cloak after all," Naruto clicked his tongue, feeling annoyed.

Losing the sight of one's target meant a great deal when playing in GGO. After all, vantage points were the key to winning in this shooting-based game, and concealing oneself while taking a shot was crucial. Even with the red guide lines which let players predict where their opponent's bullet would fly to, the chances of dodging something coming from directly behind was slim.

"Dammit all...I can't believe I let him do that. With that sniper rifle, he'll be able to one-up me with his first shot. Should've listened to Kirito about taking him out quickly."

The yellow-haired teen lamented on his mistake as he watched his surroundings. Sure enough, there was no trace of Death Gun, which meant he had found a well-concealed hiding spot and could shoot him at anytime. With that in mind, Naruto knew he was at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Death Gun was hiding in the shadows of a fallen billboard which was propped up by a damaged car, giving him some room to hide underneath it. He had changed his handgun with his sniper rifle for convenience, as he was at a range where a pistol's shot would veer of its determined path and miss. Moreover, a sniper rifle's first shot could not be predicted by the game's guidance system, so he could shoot without being found out.

He already had Naruto in his crosshair. All he had to do was pull the trigger and the bullet would fly through his head.

However, he could not.

That obnoxious blonde had started to laugh aloud without a care to his current disadvantageous position.

"What a joke! You think I'll accept being beaten in a lame way like this? That's not how you do it. The first rule to beating me is by shooting me right in the face! The second is to laugh at my dead body as my health bar goes to zero! This is the set rules that you'll have to follow if you wanna beat me, 'ttebayo! Otherwise, you can never beat me! !"

Confused by the blonde's sudden outburst, Death Gun paused and became hesitant to shoot.

From the looks of it, Naruto had not found out about his hiding place yet. But the sheer confidence oozing from his voice said otherwise and made Death Gun wonder whether he was being led into a trap.

'_Impossible. He couldn't have found me. That fool's gear and fighting style suggests nothing of him being a capable tracker, and I doubt he raised his sensory skills enough to know my current location.'_

That was what he thought. However, at the same time, Death Gun also thought...

'_Then what's the reason behind him sounding so confident, despite standing out in the open and being an easy target?'_

At that time, Naruto reached into his coat and pulled out a round object, rousing Death Gun's attention once more.

It was a flash bomb.

"!?" Death Gun was startled enough to flinch under his cover.

Naruto grinned to himself and said aloud, "If you aren't coming out, then I'll come get you."

The whisker-marked boy threw the bomb upwards and it exploded, exuding a bright light that covered and shone his surroundings. Death Gun had to look away from his target in response, throwing off his chance at shooting. Not a moment later, he heard another sound of explosion, though this time it sounded more like an exaggerated 'POOF' and the sound of gas leaking.

'_...a smoke bomb?'_

When he uncovered his eyes, Death Gun saw that the area where the yellow-haired player was at was now covered in smoke.

The idea of winning in Gun Gale Online was determined by whose shot would hit first. However, that idea could be prevented by not letting your opponent see you, as demonstrated by Death Gun with his invisibility cloak.

Naruto knew about that, too, thus why he had concealed himself behind the thick smoke.

"Hmph...it's all for naught, though." Death Gun muttered.

'_He limited his own movements by creating a smoke wall that he couldn't escape from. The moment he steps out of the smokescreen, he'll be an easy target.'_

Death Gun was confident in his sniping reaction time. He was prepared to shoot Naruto, regardless of where he chose to escape from. He just had to wait patiently until his target showed himself like the rat he was.

His patience paid off as he saw movement coming from the side of the plume of smoke. He immediately corrected his aim and pulled the trigger, letting the sniper bullet fly right his target. He had used paralyzing bullets, so it didn't matter if he only hit the arm or leg since it would immediately take away Naruto's movements.

—Or so he thought.

What he assumed was Naruto was, in actuality, a red coat.

'_He threw out his coat?!'_

At first glance, it was not really a big deal. Throwing out his coat to make his enemy mistake it for him was more of a distraction than anything, and it wouldn't really change the tides of battle that much. However, there were two things Naruto had wanted to do.

First, was to confirm Death Gun's location.

Second, was to take away his sniper rifle's unreadable first shot.

By the time Death Gun realized that and was just about to change his hiding spot, he saw a stream of smoke barreling it way towards him. From that quickly disintegrating smoke, Naruto came out while holding a pair of Uzis, as opposed to his earlier pair of weapons. Death Gun immediately corrected his aim and carefully placed his crosshair on Naruto's sprinting figure. Unlike before, a red laser could be seen from the tips of his rifle's muzzle.

This was the guidance system provided by the game's system; it gave a player the ability to read bullet paths, which was impossible to do in real life.

Just the sight of it made Naruto grin in excitement.

"Now this is what I call a duel! Ha ha ha! ! Come on then, Mr. Death Gun, show me what you can do!"

—The game of guns and bullets, Gun Gale Online.

The appearance of Death Gun had turned it into a game of life and death.

And the player called «Naruto» was more than willing to set a new high score.

**-xo-**

**[A/N]:** So there you have it – my first try in writing an SAO fanfic.

At first, my plan was to make it into merely an SAO fanfic and nothing more. As much as the prologue suggests differently, this story is _not_ a crossover. You may call it a pseudo-crossover, if you will. (However, for convenience sake, I'll put it under the crossover category to prevent misunderstandings).

The reason for that is the "Naruto" in this story is not the same as canon Naruto from the NARUTO series. I've written this down in the teasers in my profile, but in case you haven't read it, I'll break it down for you guys:

The name "Naruto" here is used as a handle name rather than a real name. As in, it's a name a certain player (an OC, of course) uses in the virtual world. I may have incorporated some of canon Naruto's traits, such as his looks and "dattebayo" catchphrase, but all that are factors which will be explained later on, should this story be deemed interesting enough. In any case, I'll try to make the "Naruto" here as believable a character as possible, but not taking too much from the canon.

This is a method that an author pair I favorited, Kur0Kishi, might've used. But in their case, they really made Naruto into "an idiot with brains".

Anyway, please tell me what you think! The decision of whether the story should continue or not is in your hands.

Until next time!

P.S: And yes, guys, I _will not_ abandon my other stories such as [Place to Try], [Red Gear Blaster] and the like. I'm a selfish author with selfish wants, so bear with me please :D


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